Operation Paperclip
, a former Nazi scientist turned NASA director, sitting between and during a briefing at , Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex.}} Operation Paperclip was a secret program of the (JIOA) largely carried out by Special Agents of , in which more than 1,600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians, such as and his team, were taken from Germany to America for U.S. government employment, primarily between 1945 and 1959. Many were former members, and some were former leaders, of the . The primary purpose for Operation Paperclip was U.S. military advantage in the Soviet–American , and the . The Soviet Union was more aggressive in forcibly recruiting more than 2,200 German specialists—a total of more than 6,000 people including family members—with during one night on October 22, 1946. The (JCS) established the first secret recruitment program, called Operation Overcast, on July 20, 1945, initially "to assist in shortening the Japanese war and to aid our postwar military research". The term "Overcast" was the name first given by the German scientists' family members for the housing camp where they were held in Bavaria. In late summer 1945, the JCS established the JIOA, a subcommittee of the Joint Intelligence Community, to directly oversee Operation Overcast and later Operation Paperclip. The JIOA representatives included the army's director of intelligence, the chief of naval intelligence, the assistant chief of Air Staff-2 (air force intelligence), and a representative from the State Department. In November 1945, Operation Overcast was renamed Operation Paperclip by officers, who would attach a paperclip to the folders of those rocket experts whom they wished to employ in America. In a secret directive circulated on September 3, 1946, officially approved Operation Paperclip and expanded it to include one thousand German scientists under "temporary, limited military custody". Osenberg List In the later part of World War II, found itself at a disadvantage, having failed to conquer the with (June–December 1941), the (September 1941 – January 1944), ("Northern Light", August–October 1942), and the (July 1942 – February 1943). The failed conquest had depleted German resources, and its military-industrial complex was unprepared to defend the (Greater German Reich) against the 's westward counterattack. By early 1943, the German government began recalling from combat a number of s, , and technicians; they returned to work in research and development to bolster German defense for a protracted war with the USSR. The recall from frontline combat included 4,000 rocketeers returned to , in northeast coastal Germany. , masters of science were recalled from orderly service, mathematicians were hauled out of bakeries, and precision mechanics ceased to be truck drivers.|Dieter K. Huzel, Peenemünde to Canaveral}} The government's recall of their now-useful s for scientific work first required identifying and locating the scientists, engineers, and technicians, then ascertaining their and reliability. Werner Osenberg, the engineer-scientist heading the Wehrforschungsgemeinschaft (Defense Research Association), recorded the names of the politically cleared men to the Osenberg List, thus reinstating them to scientific work. In March 1945, at , a Polish laboratory technician found pieces of the Osenberg List stuffed in a toilet; the list subsequently reached , who transmitted it to U.S. Intelligence. Then U.S. Army Major Robert B. Staver, Chief of the Jet Propulsion Section of the Research and Intelligence Branch of the , used the Osenberg List to compile his list of German scientists to be captured and interrogated; , Germany's premier rocket scientist, headed Major Staver's list. Identification launching, , on the north-east Baltic German coast. (1943)}} In Operation Overcast, Major Staver's original intent was only to interview the scientists, but what he learned changed the operation's purpose. On May 22, 1945, he transmitted to the U.S. Pentagon headquarters Colonel Joel Holmes's telegram urging the evacuation of German scientists and their families, as most "important for the " effort. Most of the Osenberg List engineers worked at the Baltic coast , developing the V-2 rocket. After capturing them, the Allies initially housed them and their families in , Bavaria, in southern Germany. Beginning on July 19, 1945, the U.S. JCS managed the captured ARC rocketeers under Operation Overcast. However, when the "Camp Overcast" name of the scientists' quarters became locally known, the program was renamed Operation Paperclip in November 1945. Despite these attempts at secrecy, later that year the press interviewed several of the scientists. Capture and detention , before the present (federal states) were established.}} Early on, the United States created the Combined Intelligence Objectives Subcommittee (CIOS). This provided the information on targets for the s that went in and targeted scientific, military and industrial installations (and their employees) for their know-how. Initial priorities were advanced technology, such as , that could be used in the war against Japan; finding out what technology had been passed on to Japan; and finally to halt the research. A project to halt the research was codenamed "Project Safehaven", and it was not initially targeted against the Soviet Union; rather the concern was that German scientists might emigrate and continue their research in countries such as Spain, Argentina or Egypt, all of which had sympathized with Nazi Germany. In order to avoid the complications involved with the emigration of German scientists, the CIOS was responsible for scouting and kidnapping high-profile individuals for the deprivation of technological advancements in nations outside of the US. Much U.S. effort was focused on and , which by July 1, 1945, would become part of the Soviet Occupation zone. Many German research facilities and personnel had been evacuated to these states, particularly from the Berlin area. Fearing that the Soviet takeover would limit U.S. ability to exploit German scientific and technical expertise, and not wanting the Soviet Union to benefit from said expertise, the United States instigated an "evacuation operation" of scientific personnel from Saxony and Thuringia, issuing orders such as: . There is no need to bring winter clothing. Easily carried possessions, such as family documents, jewelry, and the like should be taken along. You will be transported by motor vehicle to the nearest railway station. From there you will travel on to the West. Please tell the bearer of this letter how large your family is.}} By 1947 this evacuation operation had netted an estimated 1,800 technicians and scientists, along with 3,700 family members. Those with special skills or knowledge were taken to detention and interrogation centers, such as one code-named DUSTBIN, to be held and interrogated, in some cases for months. A few of the scientists were gathered up in Operation Overcast, but most were transported to villages in the countryside where there were neither research facilities nor work; they were provided stipends and forced to report twice weekly to police headquarters to prevent them from leaving. The Joint Chiefs of Staff directive on research and teaching stated that technicians and scientists should be released "only after all interested agencies were satisfied that all desired intelligence information had been obtained from them". On November 5, 1947, the Office of Military Government of the United States ( ), which had jurisdiction over the western part of occupied Germany, held a conference to consider the status of the evacuees, the monetary claims that the evacuees had filed against the United States, and the "possible violation by the US of laws of war or Rules of Land Warfare". The OMGUS director of Intelligence R. L. Walsh initiated a program to resettle the evacuees in the , which the Germans referred to as General Walsh's "Urwald-Programm" (jungle program); however, this program never matured. In 1948, the evacuees received settlements of 69.5 million Reichsmarks from the U.S., a settlement that soon became severely devalued during the currency reform that introduced the as the official currency of western Germany. John Gimbel concludes that the United States held some of Germany's best minds for three years, therefore depriving the German recovery of their expertise. Arrivals (aerospace engineers) at }} In May 1945, the U.S. Navy "received in custody" , the inventor of the missile; for two years, he first worked at the Special Devices Center, at Castle Gould and at Hempstead House, Long Island, New York; in 1947, he moved to the . In August 1945, Colonel , head of the Rocket Branch of the Research and Development Division of the U.S. Army's , offered initial one-year contracts to the ; 127 of them accepted. In September 1945, the first group of seven rocket scientists (aerospace engineers) arrived at , located on in harbor: , Erich W. Neubert, Theodor A. Poppel, August Schulze, , Wilhelm Jungert, and Walter Schwidetzky. Beginning in late 1945, three rocket-scientist groups arrived in the United States for duty at , Texas, and at , , as "War Department Special Employees". In 1946, the employed seven scientists at a chemical plant in , . On June 1, 1949, the designated in , as the Ordnance Rocket Center, its facility for rocket research and development. On April 1, 1950, the Fort Bliss missile development operation—including von Braun and his team of over 130 Paperclip members—was transferred to . In early 1950, legal U.S. residency for some of the Project Paperclip specialists was effected through the U.S. consulate in , , Mexico; thus, German scientists legally entered the United States from Latin America. Between 1945 and 1952, the sponsored the largest number of Paperclip scientists, importing 260 men, of whom 36 returned to Germany and one ( ) reemigrated to Argentina. Eighty-six aeronautical engineers were transferred to , , where the United States had Luftwaffe aircraft and equipment captured under (Lu'ftwaffe '''S'ecret 'T'echnolog'''y). The employed 24 specialists – including the physicists , Gunter Guttwein, Georg Hass, Horst Kedesdy, and ; the physical chemists Rudolf Brill, Ernst Baars, and Eberhard Both; the geophysicist Helmut Weickmann; the optician Gerhard Schwesinger; and the engineers Eduard Gerber, Richard Guenther, and . In 1959, 94 Operation Paperclip men went to the United States, including and Friedrich Wigand. Overall, through its operations to 1990, Operation Paperclip imported 1,600 men, as part of the intellectual reparations owed to the US and the UK, valued at $10 billion in patents and industrial processes. Major awards (in the United States) The is the highest award which may be bestowed by the (NASA). After more than two decades of service and leadership in NASA, four Operation Paperclip members were awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 1969: , , , and . was awarded the medal in 1973. The is the highest civilian award given by the . After two decades of service, Operation Paperclip member was awarded the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award in 1966. The Goddard Astronautics Award is the highest honor bestowed for notable achievements in the field of astronautics by the (AIAA). For their service, three Operation Paperclip members were awarded the Goddard Astronautics Award: Wernher von Braun (1961), (1967), and (1984). The in , owns and operates the . Several Operation Paperclip members are members of the Space Camp Hall of Fame (which began in 2007): Wernher von Braun (2007), (2007), and (2008). The includes the International Space Hall of Fame. Two Operation Paperclip members are members of the International Space Hall of Fame: Wernher von Braun (1976) and (1979). was inducted in 1978 but removed as a member in 2006. Other closely related members include (1976), a German-American science writer, and (1976), a German scientist who advised von Braun's rocket team in the U.S. from 1955 to 1958. Two lunar craters are named after Paperclip scientists: after , the first director of NASA's , and . Scientific accomplishments was chief architect of the , the key instrument in getting man to the moon. was the mind behind the , which improved aircraft performance at high speeds. Controversy and investigations Before his official approval of the program, , for sixteen months, was indecisive on the program. Years later in 1963, Truman recalled that he was not in the least reluctant to approve Paperclip; that because of relations with Russia "this had to be done and was done". Several of the Paperclip scientists were later investigated because of their links with the during the war. Only one Paperclip scientist, , was formally tried for any crime, and no Paperclip scientist was found guilty of any crime, in America or Germany. Rickhey was returned to Germany in 1947 to stand trial at the , where he was acquitted. In 1951, weeks after his U.S. arrival, was linked by the to human experiments conducted by at , and he emigrated to Argentina with the aid of the U.S. military. In 1984, , under perceived threat of prosecution relating to his connection—as operations director for V-2 missile production—to the use of from at the , renounced his U.S. citizenship and moved to West Germany, which granted him citizenship. For fifty years, from 1963 to 2013, the Strughold Award—named after , , for his central role in developing innovations like the and —was the most prestigious award from the Space Medicine Association, a member organization of the . On October 1, 2013, in the aftermath of a Wall Street Journal article published on December 1, 2012, which highlighted his connection to human experiments during WW2, the Space Medicine Association's Executive Committee announced that the Space Medicine Association Strughold Award had been retired. Key recruits ; Advisors brought into the United States : ; and ry : , , , Erich Ball, Oscar Bauschinger, Hermann Beduerftig, Rudi Beichel, Anton Beier, Herbert Bergeler, , , , Walter Burose, , GN Constan, , , , Gerd De Beek, , Gerhard Drawe, Friedrich Duerr, , Otto Eisenhardt, , Alfred Finzel, Edward Fischel, Karl Fleischer, , Herbert Fuhrmann, , Werner Gengelbach, , Hans Gruene, Herbert Guendel, Fritz Haber, , Karl Hager, Guenther Haukohl, Karl Heimburg, Emil Hellebrand, Gerhard Heller, Bruno Helm, Rudolf Hermann, Bruno Heusinger, Hans Heuter, Guenther Hintze, , , , , , Erich Kaschig, Ernst Klaus, Theodore Knacke, , , Gustav Kroll, Werner Kuers, Hermann Kurzweg, Hermann Lange, Hans Lindenberg, Hans Lindenmayer, , , Hans Maus, Helmut Merk, Joseph Michel, Hans Milde, Heinz Millinger, Rudolf Minning, Willi Mrazek, , Erich Neubert, , (designer of German jet engines), Robert Paetz, Hans Palaoro, Kurt Patt, Hans Paul, Arnold Peter, Theodor Poppel, Werner Rosinski, Heinrich Rothe, , , , Edgar Schaeffer, Martin Schilling, Helmut Schlitt, Albert Schuler, August Schulze, Walter Schwidetzky, , Wolfgang Steurer, , , , , , Werner Tiller, JG Tschinkel, Arthur Urbanski, Fritz Vandersee, , Woldemar Voigt (designer of ), Werner Voss, Theodor Vowe, , Hermann Weidner, and Walter Fritz Wiesemann. (see ). ; : Heinz Hilten and Hannes Luehrsen. ; - including , and : , , Josef Boehm, , Hans Friedrich, Eduard Gerber, , , , Otto Hoberg, Rudolf Hoelker, , , Horst Kedesdy, , Kurt Lindner, JW Muehlner, , , , , Gerhard Reisig, Harry Ruppe, , Werner Sieber, Othmar Stuetzer, Albin Wittmann, Hugo Woerdemann, Albert Zeiler, and . ; (high temperature) : Claus Scheufelen and Rudolf Schlidt. ; – including , , and : , , , , , , Hans Georg Clamann, and . ; : Gunter Guttein, Gerhard Schwesinger, Gottfried Wehner, Helmut Weickmann, and . ; and : Helmut Pichler, Leonard Alberts; Ernst Donath, Hans Schappert, Max Josenhaus, Kurt Bretschneider, Erich Frese Similar operations * APPLEPIE: Project to capture and interrogate key Wehrmacht, , and General Staff officers knowledgeable of the industry and economy of the USSR. * DUSTBIN (counterpart of ): An Anglo-American military intelligence operation established first in Paris, then in , at Frankfurt. * ECLIPSE (1944): An unimplemented Air Disarmament Wing plan for post-war operations in Europe for destroying and missiles. ** Safehaven: US project within ECLIPSE meant to prevent the escape of Nazi scientists from Allied-occupied Germany. * : US Army agency for securing the "major, and perhaps only, material reward of victory, namely, the advancement of science and the improvement of production and standards of living in the United Nations, by proper exploitation of German methods in these fields"; FIAT ended in 1947, when Operation Paperclip began functioning. * On April 26, 1946, the Joint Chiefs of Staff issued to General Eisenhower instructing that he "preserve from destruction and belonging to ... German organizations engaged in military research"; and that, excepting , German scientists be detained for intelligence purposes as required. * National Interest/'Project 63': Job placement assistance for Nazi engineers at Lockheed, Martin Marietta, North American Aviation, and other aeroplane companies, whilst American aerospace engineers were being laid off work. * , , , : Soviet, American and British efforts to capture German secrets, equipment, and personnel. * : A British effort at recovering rocket and aerospace technology, followed by assembling and testing rockets at . * : British mission to gain technical intelligence concerning advanced German aircraft and their propulsion systems. * : US efforts to capture German aeronautical equipment, technology, and personnel. * (sometimes transliterated as "Operation Ossavakim"), a Soviet counterpart of Operation Paperclip, involving German technicians, managers, skilled workers and their respective families who were relocated to the USSR in October 1946. * : British operation for denying German aeronautical expertise to the USSR, and for exploiting German scientists in furthering British research. * Special Mission V-2: April–May 1945 US operation, by Maj. William Bromley, that recovered parts and equipment for 100 V-2 missiles from a underground factory in within the Soviet zone. Major James P. Hamill co-ordinated the transport of the equipment on 341 railroad cars with the 144th Motor Vehicle Assembly Company, from to Erfurt, just before the Soviets arrived. (See also , , , Operations and Pushover) * : US project to exploit German . References Category:Contemporary history